Reviews - Small Island | The StoryGraph

779 reviews for:

Small Island

Andrea Levy

3.99 AVERAGE

ohmurph's review against another edition

5.0

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

meredith_q's review against another edition

5.0

mysterious reflective medium-paced

bjr2022's review against another edition

5.0

By page 100, I wanted Andrea Levy to be my friend and I was heartbroken to learn that she died in 2019. By page 300, I was gobsmacked by her range and wanted to ask her how she did it. And by the end, I just wanted to say thank you.

I knew nothing about West Indian people in England during World War II. Nothing about British and American GI’s treatment of Black people then. I knew nothing about the British Empire’s specific movements and battles. But everything and everyone felt true because Andrea Levy has perfect pitch for voice and full character.

I roared with laughter at fantastically arrogant Hortense at her first sight of her naked husband. And any writer who loves bowel and birthing humor has my heart. Whether Levy was writing Jamaicans, American GIs, white women, war, or anything and anybody, the dialogue was effortless and true, and I know this because when characters are true, the reader can identify, no matter how unfamiliar she is with a culture or time.

Not only is this a wonderful historical novel—written in multiple characters’ perfect voices and spanning pre-war Jamaica, both Great Wars, and 1948 England—but this book educates and should be on the list of anybody who is filling in their never-taught-by-white-school knowledge of Black history.

I knew nothing about this story until I read Goodreader Margitte’s review. And as Margitte said, this book deserves all the praise and prizes it has received. I only wish Andrea Levy were still here so that I could thank her.

Here’s Andrea Levy’s website: https://www.andrealevy.co.uk/

And here’s a trailer for the book that Andrea Levy made for its tenth anniversary in 2014; I highly recommend watching it. It made me feel even more heartbroken that I’ll never get to meet her in-body: https://youtu.be/WyUR6gZyYLE

lilacs_'s review against another edition

3.75

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

aurore_sn's review against another edition

4.0

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

aprivateislander's review against another edition

4.0

An easy and compelling read, Small Island bounces around the lives of white Britons and black Jamaicans around WWII and how they come to intertwine in profound ways. It flows back and forth between the before and the after, the struggles of the integration of the armies and England. It's an eye into a world in flux, as England lost its grasp on its colonies and re-evaluated what it meant to be a part of the empire.

slipperbunny's review against another edition

5.0

Small Island was really good. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and it was fascinating to see how the black people were treated during the World War II. The ending was a bit too neat for me, but otherwise this was a great reading experience.